Package forming and filling apparatus



Dec. 25, 1956 F. E. STIRN ETAL 2,775,083

PACKAGE FORMING AND FILLING APPARATUS Filed March 26, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY c- 1 F. E. STIRN ET AL 2,775,083

PACKAGE FORMING AND FILLING APPARATUS Filed March 26, 1951 3 Sheet -Sheet 2 I /%H g"- I g LL i ATTORNEY PACKAGE FORMING AND FILLING APPARATUS Filed March 26, 1951 Dec. 25, 1956 F. E. STIRN ET AL 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 with ATTORN EY United States Patent PACKAGE FORMING AND FILLING APPARATUS Frank Edwin Stirn, Pearl River, and Arthur Sinclair Tay- 101', Spring Valley, N. Y., assignors to American Cyanamid Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Maine Application March 26, 1951, Serial No. 217,628

13 Claims. (Cl. 53-180) Our invention relates to a machine for filling powdered materials into packages which are formed from thin sheet material which is heat or pressure scalable. The invention contemplates the formation of a series of packages from continuous sheets of packaging material such as paper, cellophane, pliofilm, metal foils such as aluminum foils, etc., thin plastic films such as glassine, rubber hydrochloride sheets, etc. and is particularly useful in conjunction with a thermoplastic coated foil strip.

Pressure sensitive strips may be used which seal to each other under the influence of pressure without the necessity for using heat. Paper strips coated with latex may be used as these will adhere under the influence of pressure. We prefer a thermoplastic coated sheet such as for example aluminum foil which is coated with rubber hydrochloride or Saran or polyethylene or other thermo-sealing resin, either thermo-setting or thermo-plastic, which will seal under the influence of pressure and heat as such sheets are passed between sealing rolls, preferably serrated surfaces.

An object of our invention is to provide a machine whereby extremely uniform charges of a powder may be filled into a series of such packages.

Our invention contemplates variation in the size of the charges in a particularly readily adjustable fashion by the use of measuring chambers, the capacity of which may be readily adjusted.

The packages may be cut to form individual units or may be left attached to each other to form a series of individual packages serially attached. Packages of this nature are particularly useful for medicinals, for foodstuffs, for chemicals, or other powders where charges of predetermined quantities are desired. They are also useful to protect materials which are sensitive to light, moisture or atmospheric deterioration from the elements during storage and shipment.

Our invention also has as its object a method and apparatus whereby one or more measuring chambers may empty one or more powder charges from these measuring chambers into a single container whereby the flexibility of operation is increased.

Our invention has as an additional object the provision of an adjustment whereby the relative relationship between -a measuring chamber and crimping rolls which form a package may be varied while the machine is in operation to provide accurate timing of the feeding of the powder charge over a range of speeds.

Our invention has as a further object the feeding of compacted charges of powder, from which part of the adsorbed gas has been withdrawn, so that the powder is more compact, and dust free. The compaction and deaeration of the powder markedly decreases the dust released in the filling operation and permits a greater weight of powder to be packed in a container.

Many inventors, over a long period, have. been attempt ing to form such packages. the operation more economical, particularly with medicinals, because. by theuse of a vacuum-packed charge Our improvements renderchamber, it is possible to decrease the variation between individual increments of container content so that less overage is required.

The general use of machines for making and filling packages is well known, as for example the machine shown in the patent to Salfisberg 2,350,930 in which oscillating serrated grips are used to seal together sheets to form an open-ended container in which a powder charge is filled and then the top sealed so as to complete the container. This patent uses a rotating drum charge chamber providing for volumetric measurement of the charge.

Other forms of sealing mechanism are shown, for example, in the Salfisberg Patent 2,420,983 in which a liquid is used in conjunction with the continuous formation of a. tube and the filling thereof. metering devices and volumetric traps are shown by the prior art, as for example, the volumetric traps shown in the patent to Vogt 2,133,636 in which the packages are formed and severed by oscillating die mechanisms and filled by a dump-valve mechanism.

The sealing mechanism shown in Salfisberg 2,374,504 involving interdigitated serrations on gear coupled heated rolls are particularly useful. This patent shows the use of guard rings on the serrated rolls to protect the serrations and insure the proper spacing. It also shows a spring-loading of the rolls to provide for variations in the machine. This type of sealing mechanism may be incorporated in our device if desired.

Certain previous types of machines have used angers to feed a powder. An auger does not deliver a uniform flow of powder, and will work only with certain types of powder.

Prior inventors have to a large extent used volumetric traps of various natures in which a powder was permitted to flow into a measuring chamber and then discharged from the measuring chamber to the packages. This type of measurement is fairly satisfactory for powders which are free-flowing, which do not bridge, block or bind and which do not become tacky, if the powders are of uniform density and the accuracy of fill not important. However,

under many circumstances, it is desirable to fill powders which are not free-flowing and which may become tacky, as for example, many hygroscopic medicinals, and very fine powders which bridge. Furthermore, with powders of high unit value or in processes where the quantity involved is critical, an ordinary volumetric trap is not adequate. Our device is so much more accurate that under many circumstances, the increase in accuracy is sufiicient that filling operations which formerly had to be made by actual weighing each individual charge can now be made rapidly by our device. Our Patent 2,540,- 059 shows the accuracy with which such measurements can be made.

Our machine additionally provides: an adjustment so that the contents of a measuring chamber may be retained in position by the influence of suction until the measuring chamber is at a desired release point. Here, for free-fiowing powders, the release of the vacuum permits the powder to fall from the measuring chamber. We prefer to use a positive gas pressure to insure that powders, whether free-flowing or not, will be discharged at the same point. By adjusting an angular seal be tween pressure and vacuum chests, it .is possible to cause the release of the powders at the exact portion of the travel of the measuring chamber which is desired and thisdischarge point may be adjusted while the device is in operation. For greater efliciency, it is desirable that the charge fall directly into the container. If the speed of rotation is to vary over widelimits, it is de-- sirable that the release point be variable while in opera-' tion so that the powder charge can be caused to drop Many forms of to the exact point desired. Furthermore, our device is provided with an adjustment in the timing between the container-forming rolls and the rotary turrent containing the measuring chambers so as to adjust the timing to compensate for any variation in fall of the powder charge between the release point and the container-forming rolls.

Many other advantages and improvements will be seen from a closer study of the specification and the attached drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a machine Two continuous sheets of scalable packaging material, 11 and 12, are fed in from suitable sources, not shown, over the left and right guide rollers, 13 and 14. These guide rollers may be non-powered idlers. From them the sheets travel downwardly in a V-shaped configuration towards the bite of the left and right seal rolls, 15 and 16. The seal rolls, which may be of the type shown in the Salfisberg Patent 2,374,504, are attached to the left and right seal roll shafts, 17 and 18, which shafts may be suitably journalled in front and rear frames, 19 and 20,.which frames may be attached to or made integral with a suitable base 21. The seal roll shafts are geared to each other by the leftand right seal roll drive gears, 22 and 23. The right seal roll drive gear 23 shows in Figure 2. The left seal roll drive gear, 22, is directly behind it in this view.

One of the seal roll shafts, for purposes of illustration the left one, is shown as driven by a suitable motor '24 through a worm gear 25 which in turn drives a main drive spur gear 26. Other forms of drive may obviously beused. The seal rolls themselves, 15 and 16, are provided with a serrated surface 27 which serrations are interdigitated so that the two sheets are pressed firmly together and caused to join. It is possible to cause the sheets to seal to each other by merely the application of pressure between smooth rolls, but the serrations give higher unit pressures, provide for better heat transfer,

and insure a more complete trouble-free, vapor-proof seal than is obtained without their use.

The rolls may have provided guard rings 28, which are smooth rings to the front and the rear of the serrated portions between which the sheets pass so that the serrated 7 rolls are properly spaced without regard to the sheet material passing between. These guard rings are not necessary and may advantageously be left off if sheet material of variable thickness is to be used.

The serrated surfaces are provided with complements] recesses 29, which recesses are adapted to receive the powder contents of the formed containers. Springs or sponge rubber may be used in these recesses to aid in excluding air from the containers as formed, but usually the tension in. the sheet is sufiicient to express air from the packages as filled. The serrated surfaces may be heated by any suitable means, for example, as diagrammatically shown, lead wires 30, connect to internal resistors in the seal rolls. The serrated surfaces form sealing areas which cause the areas of the sheets with which they come in contact to adhere to each other.

As the sheets 11 and 12 are fed down into the bite of. the seal rolls, the serrated surfaces cause a sealing zone to. be. formed entirely across the two sheets and then. as the complemental. recesses 29 pass through the bite, the sheets are sealed to each other only at the edges, leaving an unsealed zone in the middle forming a container to receive the powder contents. After the powder contents are filled between the sheets, the complemental recesses pass through the bite of the rolls and the full seal roll surface again causes the two sheets to be sealed entirely across, thereby completing the container in which the powder is sealed. The thus formed packages 31 are illustrated in Figure 1.

Cutting means may be included in the sealing rolls so that individual packages are separated if desired. To assist in insuring that all of the powder charges fall into the containers being formed by the seal rolls, there are provided powder deflectors, 32 and 33, on each side of and above the sheets as they are fed into the rolls. One of the seal roll shafts may be spring-mounted to provide for flexibility in operation.

Powder measuring apparatus Above the seal roll shafts is a turret shaft 34 which is suitably journalled in the front and rear frames. On the turret shaft is fixed a positioning ring 35. Removably mounted on the end of the shaft and resting against the positioning ring is the measuring head drum 36. A key 37 causes the measuring head drum to rotate with the turret shaft. The measuring head drum has a series of measuring chamber slots 38, the main portions of which are of uniform cross-section. At the bottom of the measuring chamber slots is a foraminous material 39 which extends over the main portion of the bottom of the slot. At the front of the foraminous material is a positioning block 40. The foraminous material is preferably of a sintered metal which is porous but yet solid and inflexible. Such sintered metals may be formed by heating powdered metals almost to their melting point in an inert atmosphere and are well known in the art. Sintered glass or a felt or fabric partially impregnated with a plastic may be used, but the sintered metal is usually more resistant and will Wear longer.

In forming the measuring head drum, it is convenient to use an end mill to form a T-slot into which a suitably shaped block of the formainous material, preferably sintered metal, is placed. The foraminous material should be short enough so that a positioning block 40 may be placed behind it to prevent the loss of vacuum, as later described. If these pieces are accurately formed, they may be held in place by a friction fit. Otherwise silver solder or other retaining means may be used to hold the foraminous material in the positioning block in assembled position in the measuring head drum.

After the positioning blockand the foraminous material are positioned under each of the measuring chamber slots, in the drawings eight such slots are shown, the interior of the measuring head drum is turned and ground or otherwise smoothed so as to be used for a valve surface.

In each of the measuring chamber slots is a measuring chamber finger 41. The measuring chamber finger has a cross-section such that it fills the measuring chamber slot and forms a circular cylindrical surface contiguous with the external peripheral surface of the measuring head drum. The fingers are attached to and form part of a measuring head spider 42. The spider is provided with a finger in each of the measuring chamber slots and slides on the turret shaft 34. A spider positioning spring 43 tends to separate theme'asuring head drum and the measuring head spider. The spider is held against the force of the spring by a spider positioning nut 44 which is locked in position by a lock nut 45. The measuring headdrum and measuring head spider, together with the associated foraminous material, positioning block, nuts and spring, form the rotary turret.

Interior-ally of the rotary turret is a stator 46. The stator may ride on the hub 47 of the measuring head drum. The stator" ma'y fit interiorally of the measuring head-'drum andhas an outer ring seal 48" and an inner ring seal 49. These two ring seals are connected by three radial seals asshown in Figure 3, counterclockwise,

in order starting at the top, the suction chest radial seal 50, the common radial seal 51 and the pressure chest radial seal 52. t

The stator fits into the interior of the turret assembly. The two ring seals, the suction chest radial seal and the common radial seal close off a portion of the volume between the measuring head drum and the stator which forms a suction chest 53 into which leads a vacuum corinection 54. Adjacent is a pressure chest 55 which is formed by the outer seal ring, the inner seal ring, the common radial seal, and the pressure chest radial seal which close off a portion of the volume between the stator 46 and the measuring head drum 36 and into which leads a pressure connection 56. The inside of the measuring head drum should be smoothly finished so that the radial seals and the ring seals may ride smoothly on the surface thereof as the turret revolves, with a minimum of leakage. The stator is held in place against the inside of the measuring head drum by astator spring 57 and is kept from rotating by a stator positioning lug 84. Above the .turret is mounted a powder hopper 58 which may be of transparent material such as plastic, to enable observation of its contents. In the powder hopper there are placed agitators 59 which are driven by an agitator drive 60 from a suitable source of power which is not shown.

There is also provided an air bleed 61 which introduces air near the bottom of the powder hopper to assist in maintaining aeration of the powder in the hopper. Around the outside of the hopper is a hopper seal strip 62 which may be of leather or felt, etc. and which is fastened to the outside of the hopper and rides on the surface of the turret thereby preventing powder from leaking through any slight irregularities between the hopper and the turret.

At the front of the hopper, the hopper itself may serve as a doctor blade. A separate doctor blade is usually desirable if the hopper is constructed of a soft material such as a transparent plastic.

Turret drive mechanism Freely rotating on the turret shaft is a large driven sprocket gear 63. Also on the turret shaft is a small driven sprocket gear 64. Each of these sprocket gears is connected by a drive chain 65 and 66 to separate sprocket driving gears 67 and 68 which are attached to the right seal roll shaft 18. The sprocket drive chain assembly is shown in Figure 6.

The drive chain is loose on the sprockets and the slack is taken up by a take-up idler 69 mounted in the end of a take-up arm 70 which rotates on a take-up arm pivot 71 which is mounted on the frame 19. A take-up spring 72 is attached to the lower end of the take-up arm and spring-loads the take-up idler 69, which keeps the drive chain tight. On the drive side of-the chain is an adjusting sprocket '73 which is mounted in a forkin the end of an adjusting arm 74 which rotates about an adjusting arm pivot 75. The lower end of the adjusting arm has mounted therein an adjusting arm take-up screw 76 on which is an adjusting arm nut. 77. A similar timing adjustment may be provided in the other drive chain for the small driven sprocket gear 64, but is not shown, for purposes of clarity.

Mounted on the turret shaft is a turret shaft sleeve 78. A turret shaft sleeve key 79 causes the shaft and the sleeve to rotate together; A sleeve shift fork 80 is provided to shift the sleeve in either direction. At the end of the sleeve are drive notches 81 which engage lugs 82 on the respective driven sprockets.

Operation In operation the sleeve shift fork may shift the turret shaft sleeve to neutral position permitting the seal rolls to rotate without the turret being rotated. This permits the adjustment of the feed sheets, temperature and operating conditions until a satisfactory seal is obtained and sturdy containers are being formed. At this time the.

shiftforkmay be biased towards either the front or the rear so that the drive notches on the front or the rear of the drive sleeve engage either thelarge sprocket gear,63 or the small driven sprocket gear 64. The small driven sprocket gear 64 and the sprocket driving gear 68 are the same size so that with four sets of complemental recesses in the sealing roll and eight measuring chambers 83, two such chambers cooperate with each recess. If the sleeve is engaged with the large driven sprocket, the turret makes one-half as many rotations as does the seal roll, as the large sprocket gear is one-half as large as the correspondin g sprocket driving gear 67 and accordingly a single measuring chamber cooperates with each pair of recesses 29.

In the turret the series of measuring chambers 83 is formed by the measuring chamber slots which are partially filled with the measuring chamber fingers. By adjusting the position of the measuring head spider, the fingers are inserted into or withdrawn from the measuring chamber slots. The exact volume is determined by the position of the fingers and may be readily adjusted as may be desired. The slots should be of uniform size and the fingers of uniform size. The spider fits closely on the turret shaft so that it cannot become cocked thereon, so each of the measuring chambers is the same size and the powder charge of each measuring chamber is uniform.

As the measuring chambers rotate under the powderfilled hopper, the gaseous contents are withdrawn through the vacuum connection 54 acting through the suction chest 53 and the powder from the hopper is uniformly compacted into the measuring chamber. The front of the hopper, or a separate doctor, uniformly strikes off the contents. The contents are retained in the measuring chambers by the suction until the foraminous material forming the back portion of the measuring chamber passes the common radial seal, at which point the suction is released and if necessary, pressure applied. For freeflowing powders, pressure is not normally necessary. For powders which pack, pressure may be needed.

The powder charge in the measuring chamber is ejected therefrom as it passes the common radial seal and per: mitted to fall into the bite between the rolls as a container is formed from the sheets being fed to the seal rolls. The left and right powder deflectors 32 and 33, assist in causing the powder charge to fall into the container as formed. The release point at which the powder charge is dropped from the measuring chamber can be adjusted by rotating the stator about its axis. The stator is free to rotate on the hub 47 of the measuring head drum and is positioned angularly by a stator positioning lug 84 which may bear an index 85 and is held by a stator lock nut 86 which slides in a slot 87 in the frame 19. By adjusting the position of the stator and with it the position of the common radial seal, the angular position of the release of the powder charge may be adjusted so that it will fall to the desired location.

The exact position of release will vary with the speed of operation of the machine, the characteristics of the powder, etc. It is essential that the powder charges to form the powder contents of the containers arrive at the seal rolls in the proper timed relationship so that they will fall between portions of the sheets which are adjacent the recesses. At different speeds and with different powders, the rate of fall will be difierent. The adjusting nut 77 provides for a variation in the position of the adjusting sprocket which changes the length of the path of the travel of the sprocket chain between the driven sprocket gear and the driving sprocket gear and thus changes the relative timing between the measuring turret and the seal rolls. The exact timing of the operation is most readily adjusted while the machine is in operation, and under the guidance of an operator. Furthermore, the rate of operation of the machine may be varied and by adjustment of the timing relationship between the measuring roll and, the release point, it is possible to obtain'perfectly formed containers at either a slow or high speed, as may be def sired.

While the containers may be made from two sheets, preferable in the present case, it is also possible to use a forming device which will fold over the edges of a single laige sheet so as to make two opposed edges which would be the equivalent of the construction produced here.

Variations will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.- For example, the temperatures and pressures of the sealing rolls will vary depending upon the speed of the operation and the exact material from which the sheets are formed, etc. The powder charges may be varied in size, depending upon the depth of entry of the measuring chamber fingers into the measuring chamber slots. The size and the shape of the ends of the measuring chamber 'slot and the measuring chamber fingers may be varied from round, which is shown, to square or otherwise as is desired. The bottom of the slot may be either flat or cylindrical depending upon convenience in manufacture. Normally a flat bottom is easier to shape than a circular one.

The use of one or two powder charges per container is optional and permits greater flexibility in operation of the machine. The machine can be adapted to fill more increments. Where two charges are used, the timing relationship must be rather accurate to avoid part of one of the charges arriving before or after the arrival of the complemental recesses at the bite of the seal rolls. As shown, seal rolls are used for the formation of packages. It will be obvious that reciprocating seal members such as shown by example in U. S. Patent 2,350,930 to Salfisberg, etc. could be used if desired.

Having pointed out certain modifications thereof, as 'our invention we claim:

1. A packaging machine comprising a hopper, a rotary turret provided with a plurality of measuring chambers adapted to rotate under said hopper, a foraminous material comprising at least a portion of the surface of each of such measuring chambers, means for Withdrawing the gas present in the measuring chambers through said foraminous material, means for rotating the turret and thereby moving the said measuring chambers past a doctor means and-to a discharge position, means for adjusting said discharge position while the machine is in operation, gaseous pressure change means for discharging the powder charge of said measuring chambers at such a point that the rotational velocity and force of gravity cause the charges to fall directly into containers, means for passing two scalable sheets of packaging material beneath said turret, and means for forming open-ended containcrs from said sheets and sealing the containers above their powder contents after the containers are filled.

2. A packaging machine comprising a hopper, a rotary turret comprising a measuring head drum having a plurality of notches in the face of said drum, foraminous material forming the bottom part of each notch and permitting gas flow into the interior portion of said drum, and a positionable spider having a finger in each of said notches, said notches and said fingers forming a measuring chamber the volume of which may be varied; means for withdrawing the gas present in the thus formed measurin'g chambers including a vacuum chest bounded by radial and ring seals, gaseous pressure change means including a pressure chest for discharging the powder charge of said measuring chambers into containers, means for varying the angular location thereof while the machine is in operation, means for passing two scalable sheets of packaging material beneath said turret, and means for forming openended containers from said sheets and sealing the containers above their powder contents after the containers are filled.

3. In a packaging machine in combination a measuring head drum, a plurality of equal size notches in the face of drum, a foraminous area forming substantially the entire bottom portion of said notches, a measuring head spider, finger portions of said spider entering into each of said notches, means for varying the depth of entry of said finger portions into said notches, said finger portions and said notches thereby forming measuring chambers the volume of which may be readily and accurately adjustcd, means for rotating the drum and spider, means including a positionable vacuum chest for withdrawing the gas present in the thus formed measuring chambers and means including a positionable pressure chest for re-introducing gas into said chambers, said vacuum chest and said pressure chest being angularly adjustable while the machine is in operation.

4. A packaging machine comprising in combination a hopper, a measuring head drum, a plurality of equal size notches in the face of said drum, a foraminous area form ing substantially the entire bottom portion of said notches, a measuring head spider, finger port-ions of said spider entering into each of said notches, means for varying the depth of entry of said finger portions into said notches, said finger portions and said notches thereby forming measuring chambers the volume of which may be readily and accurately adjusted, means for rotating the drum and spider, means for withdrawing the gas present in the thus formed measuring chambers, means for re-introducing gas into said chambers, means for varying the angular location of said gas re-introducing means while the machine is in operation, means for passing two scalable sheets of packaging material beneath the measuring head drum, means for forming open-ended containers from said sheets and sealing the containers above their powder contents after the containers are filled, and means for rotating said measuring head drum and said means for forming and sealing containers, said last named means providing for relative variation of the timed relationship of the measuring and forming and sealing operations.

5. A packaging machine comprising a hopper, a rotary turret provided with a plurality of measuring chambers adapted to rotate under said hopper, a foraminous material comprising at least a portion of the surface of each of such measuring chambers, means for withdrawing the gas present in the measuring chambers through said foraminous material, means for rotating the turret and thereby moving the said measuring chambers past a doctor means and to a discharge position, gaseous pressure change means for discharging the powder charge of said measuring chambers into containers including means for adjusting while in operation the angular position of discharge, means for passing two continuous sheets of packaging material under said turret, means for forming open-ended containers from said sheets and for sealing the containers above their powder contents after they are filled, and means for operating said means for rotating the turret in adjustable timed relationship with said means for forming, including means for varying the timed relationship while in operation.

6. A packaging machine comprising a hopper, a rotary turret provided with a plurality of measuring chambers adapted to rotate under said hopper, a foraminous material comprising at least a portion of the surface of each of said measuring chambers, means for withdrawing the gas present in the measuring chamber through said foraminous material, means for rotating the turret and thereby moving the said measuring chambers past a doctor means and to a discharge position, gaseous pressure change means for discharging the powder charges of said measuring chambers into containers, means for varying the angular location of said gaseous pressure change means so that the powder charges are released at such a point as to most readily discharge into the containers, means for passing at least one continuous sheet of packaging material under said turret, means for forming open-ended containers from said sheet and for sealing the containers above their powder contents after they are filled, and means for operating said means for rotating s the turret in timed relationship with said means for form mg.

7. The machine of claim in which the angular location of the gaseous pressure change means may be varied while the machine is in operation.

8. The machine of claim 6, in which the gaseous pressure change means comprises a radial seal between a vacuum chest and a pressure chest the angular location of which may be varied while the machine is in operation.

9. A packaging machine comprising a hopper, a rotary turret provided with a plurality of measuring chambers adapted to rotate under said hopper, a foraminous material comprising at least a portion of the surface of each of said measuring chambers, means for withdrawing the gas present in the measuring chambers through said foraminous material, said means for withdrawing including a vacuum chest bounded by radial seals and ring seals and located interiorally of said rotary turret, means for adjustably angularly positioning said radial seals while the machine is in operation, means for rotating the turret and thereby moving the said measuring chamber past a doctor means and to a discharge position, gaseous pressure change means for discharging the powder charges of said measuring chambers into containers, means for passing at least one continuous sheet of packaging material under said turret, uniformly and continuously rotating rolls for forming open-ended containers from said sheet and for sealing the containers above their powder contents after they are filled, and means for operating said means for rotating the turret in timed relationship with said rolls.

10. A packaging machine comprising a hopper, a rotary turret provided with a plurality of measuring chambers adapted to rotate under said hopper, :a foraminous material comprising at least a portion of the surface of each of such measuring chambers, means for withdrawing the gas present in the measuring chambers through said [toraminous material, means for rotating the turret and thereby moving the said measuring chambers past a doctor means and to a discharge position, gaseous pressure change means for discharging the powder charge of said measuring chambes into containers, means lfor varying the angular location of said gaseous pressure change means so that the powder charges are released at such a point as to most readily discharge into containers, means for passing two continuous sheets of packaging material under said turret, means for forming open-ended containers from said sheets and for sealing the containers above their powder con-tents after they [are lfilled, and means for operating said means for rotating the turret in timed relationship with said means for forming.

-11. The machine of claim in which the angular location of the gaseous pressure change means may be varied while the machine is in operation.

12. A packaging machine comprising a hopper, a rotary turret provided with a plurality of measuring chambers adapted to rotate under said hopper, a foraminous material comprising at least a portion of the surface of each of such measuring chambers, means for Withdrawing the gas present in the measuring chambers through said foraminous material, means for rotating the turret and thereby moving the said measuring chambers past a doctor means and to a discharge position, gaseous pressure change means for discharging the powder charge of said measuring chambers into containers, said gaseous pressure change means comprising a radial seal between a vacuum chest and a pressure chest the angular location of which may be varied while the machine is in operation, means for passing two continuous sheets of packaging material under said turret, means for forming open-ended containers from said sheets and for sealing the containers above their powder contents after they are filled, and means for operating said means for rotating the turret in timed relationship with said means for forming.

'13. A packaging machine comprising a hopper, a rotary turret provided with a plurality of measuring chambers adapted to rotate under said hopper, a rfonaminous material comprising at 'least a portion of the surface of each of such measuring chambers, means for withdrawing the gas present in the measuring chambers through said toralminous material, means for rotating the turret and thereby moving the said measuring chambers past a doctor means and to a discharge position, said means for rotating including means for selectively changing the number of measuring chambers discharging into each container,

gaseous pressure change means for discharging the powder charge of said measuring chambers into containers, means for passing two continuous sheets of packaging material under said turret, means [for forming open-ended containers from said sheets and for sealing the containers above their powder contents after they are filled, and means for operating said means for rota-ting .the turret in adjustable timed relationship with said means [for forming.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,769,285 Burns July 1, 1930 1,863,133l Ziedins June 14, 1932 2,045,709 Hartwell June 30, 1936 2,350,930 Selfisberg June 6, 1944 2,381,091 Weisman Aug. 7, 1945 2,387,747 Cowley Oct. 30, 1945 2,472,440 Selfisberg June 7, 1949 2,522,682 Lewis Sept. 19, 1950 2,540,059 Stir-n et al. Jan. 30, 1951 2,611,225 Williams Sept. 23, 1952 

